Chapter 1The Third Level

Each arrow says why the next period follows from the one before.

Pages of material: Slide text · Slide show · Teaching notes · Teacher guide · Question bank · Flashcards · Glossary · Interactive chapter · Revision notes · Quiz

Read the question bank codes like this: A1 means Section A (multiple-choice questions, MCQ), question 1. B is fill in the blanks, C is true or false, D is short-answer questions and E is long-answer questions. The numbers under flashcards are card numbers.

Before every period: Read the card’s pages aloud once, sort the previous slips (how many wrote it correctly, which mistake is the commonest), and copy the board-work table into your notebook once.

Charley tells the story in the first person (‘I’) and speaks in a conversational tone; every now and then he asks the reader directly, as in “Have you ever been there?” (p. 4). You hear this tone only when the story is read aloud, so in Periods 1 to 4 the story is read in class, in the book’s order, and stopped every few paragraphs for questions.

Time moves back and forth: page 1 is the argument after the event; the event begins on page 2 with “Anyway, here’s what happened at Grand Central.” Let this order grow, period by period, on the chart paper on the wall. Do not reveal the last line until the end of Period 4; students who have read the story already should also keep it to themselves.

• Reading aloud: You read the first part of every period, then the students take turns. Give a hesitant student a short paragraph; correct pronunciation after the paragraph is finished.
• Questions in English: If a student answers in two or four English words, accept it, then have the full sentence built on the board.
• Pairs are for both Read and find out questions (Periods 1 and 4) and for the work on themes (Period 5).
• Chart paper: Put it in one place on the wall (if the room is shared, take it down and roll it up after the period); the board is wiped every period, and the charts are needed again in Periods 5 and 6. Every period also works without a projector.

Book — pp. 1–2 · Slides — the first three slides, then Part 1 · Interactive — The claim of three levels

Aim — By the end of the period every student can say how many levels of Grand Central Station the railroad presidents and Charley name, what the psychiatrist friend calls this, and how the friends’ opinion of stamp collecting differs from Charley’s; and can write the first Read and find out question (p. 1) in English.

Take with you — the book, paper for the first-day slips and an envelope.

The 40 minutes

1. 0–5 min · The first-day slip. Tell the students only that the story is told by a man named Charley, who says there is a third level in Grand Central Station. Write on the board: Is the third level real, or is it only in Charley’s mind? Every student writes two lines in English, as they understand it, with their name; if a Hindi word slips in, that is fine. Put the slips in the envelope; they come back in Period 5. This question is our own. The Before you read question on page 1 is only a way to start talking: if two or three students wish, they can tell an experience of their own in one sentence; it has no fixed answer, and no written work should be set on it.

2. 5–15 min · You read: the first paragraph. Read the first paragraph on page 1, from “THE presidents of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads will swear on a stack of timetables that there are only two.” to “Everybody I know wants to escape, but they don’t wander down into any third level at Grand Central Station.” The meaning of “swear on a stack of timetables” is in the glossary: to declare something with a solemn promise. First pause, after the second sentence. Ask: How many levels do the railroad presidents say Grand Central Station has, and how many does Charley say? Sample answer — The presidents say there are only two. Charley says there are three, because he has been on the third level. Second pause, at the end of the paragraph. Ask: What does Charley’s psychiatrist friend say about the third level? Sample answer — He says it is “a waking-dream wish fulfillment”.

   • About Charley: “He said I was unhappy.”
   • The reason: The modern world is “full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it”, and Charley just wants to escape.

   Charley replies, “Well, who doesn’t?”, but adds that people do not wander down into a third level.

3. 15–25 min · Students read: the second paragraph. One student reads from “But that’s the reason, he said, and my friends all agreed.” to “President Roosevelt collected stamps too, you know.” on page 2. The book does not give President Roosevelt’s full name; do not add one yourself. The term “first-day covers” appears here for the first time; students underline it, and its meaning opens up in Period 4. First pause, after “My stamp collecting, for example; that’s a ‘temporary refuge from reality.’” Ask: What do Charley’s friends call his stamp collecting? Sample answer — A ‘temporary refuge from reality’: a way to get away from real life for a while. Second pause, after “…and he started my collection.” Ask: Does Charley agree with his friends? Sample answer — Only partly. He says “Well, maybe”, and then argues back.

   • His grandfather: “my grandfather didn’t need any refuge from reality”.
   • The old days: “things were pretty nice and peaceful in his day, from all I hear”.
   • The collection: His grandfather started it.

   So he only half-agrees: a hobby his grandfather started in peaceful days need not mean escape.

4. 25–33 min · Read and find out (p. 1). Read the question just as it is printed: “What does the third level refer to?” Students think in pairs for two minutes; then listen to three or four answers and build the full answer on the board. Today have the first and third points written; the second point (1894) students add themselves in their notebooks after Period 2. Sample answer — The third level refers to a level of Grand Central Station below the two known levels, where Charley says he has been.

   • What it is: Charley reaches it by chance through a corridor, and there it is still 1894.
   • What the psychiatrist says: It is “a waking-dream wish fulfillment”, a way of escaping the worries of the modern world.

   So it can be read as Charley’s wish to escape into a peaceful past.

5. 33–36 min · Four words. Have these written on the board with their English meanings: refuge (a place of safety or escape), psychiatrist (a doctor who treats problems of the mind), insecurity (a feeling of not being safe), waking-dream wish fulfillment (getting, in a daydream, what one wishes for in real life). These words and more are in the section ‘Words to know’ of the revision notes.

6. 36–40 min · Exit slip. (1) Who tells the story, and what do we learn about him on page 1? (2) What do Charley’s friends call his stamp collecting?

Board work

By the end of the period the board should carry this table, and students copy it into their notebooks.

Where students get stuck

• What “level” means. Here a level is one floor of the station; on page 2 Charley goes down the steps to the first level and then down another flight to the second level. Draw three lines one below the other on the board to show it.
• Page 1 comes after the event. Here Charley is talking about the argument that came after he went to the third level. The event begins on page 2. Have this written in a corner of the board: Page 1: after that night. Pages 2–4: that night.
• The psychiatrist’s name, not yet. On page 1 he is only “a psychiatrist friend of mine”. His name comes out in the last line; do not give the secret away today.
• The sentence in question 3 is not a line from the story. Reading with Insight question 3 (p. 6) ends the same idea with “worry and stress”; the story’s line ends with “worry and all the rest of it”. Write only the story’s words on the board.
• For a weaker student, the first three rows of the board work are enough.
• Ask a stronger student: Does the narrator deny that he wants to escape? Which words show it? This question is our own. Sample answer — No, he does not deny it. He says, “Well, who doesn’t? Everybody I know wants to escape”, and only adds that “they don’t wander down into any third level at Grand Central Station.” So, for him, the wish alone does not explain where he has been.

Exit slip and homework

• Exit slip (step 6): (1) Who tells the story, and what do we learn about him on page 1? (2) What do Charley’s friends call his stamp collecting?
• Sample answers to the exit slip — (1) The narrator tells it himself, in the first person (‘I’). He says there are three levels at Grand Central Station because he has been on the third level; on page 2 he tells us his name, Charley. (2) A ‘temporary refuge from reality’.
• Homework: A1, A2, A3, A20, C1 and C2 from the question bank; and the answer to Read and find out question 1 in a clean notebook.
• For revision: flashcards 1–10.

Book — pp. 2–4 · Slides — Part 2 · Interactive — The Grand Central corridor, 1894 on the third level

Aim — By the end of the period every student can say, in order, why Charley went into Grand Central Station that night and how he lost his way, how the third level differed from the second level, and how Charley made sure of the year.

Take with you — the book, and a sheet of chart paper for the then and now chart.

The 40 minutes

1. 0–4 min · The previous slips. Read two slips from Period 1: one in which the stamp-collecting point is in the right words, and one with a slip-up. Have the class correct it.

2. 4–12 min · You read: that night. Page 2, from “Anyway, here’s what happened at Grand Central.” to “I wasn’t trying to escape from anything; I just wanted to get home to Louisa, my wife.” Stopping at “One night last summer”, tell the students that Charley is talking about a night last summer. Pause, at the end of the paragraph. Ask: Why did Charley go to Grand Central that night? Was he trying to escape? Sample answer — He went there to take the subway home, and he says he was not trying to escape.

   • Why the subway: He had worked late at the office and was in a hurry to get uptown to his apartment; the subway is faster than the bus.
   • Who he is: “I’m just an ordinary guy named Charley, thirty-one years old”.
   • Not escaping: “I wasn’t trying to escape from anything; I just wanted to get home to Louisa, my wife.”

   So that night Charley was an ordinary man going home.

3. 12–20 min · Students read: getting lost and the tree. Two students read the next two paragraphs, from “I turned into Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue” to “But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that idea.” on page 3. First pause, after “Another time I came up in an office building on Forty-sixth Street, three blocks away.” Ask: How did Charley get lost? Sample answer — He went down to the first level and then to the second level, turned into an arched doorway heading for the subway, and got lost. He says this is easy to do there: once a tunnel about a mile long took him into the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. Second pause, at the end of the paragraph. Ask: What does Charley compare Grand Central to, and what idea does he keep from his psychiatrist friend? Sample answer — He compares it to a tree.

   • The tree: He thinks Grand Central is “growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots”.
   • The secret idea: For many people “Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape”, and maybe that is how his tunnel came to be. He does not finish the sentence.

   Charley says, “But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that idea.”

4. 20–30 min · You read: the third level. Page 3, from “The corridor I was in began angling left and slanting downward” to “And then I knew.” on page 4. Read slowly; at every new thing, stop and ask the students to underline its name in the book. First pause, after “Then I saw why; they were open-flame gaslights.” Ask: How was the third level different from the second level? Sample answer — It looked older and smaller.

   • The room: It was smaller, with fewer ticket windows and train gates.
   • The booth: The information booth in the centre was wood and old-looking; the man in it wore a green eyeshade and long black sleeve protectors.
   • The lights: They were dim and flickering, because they were open-flame gaslights.

   For a moment Charley thought he was back on the second level, but these things told him otherwise. Second pause, after “And then I knew.” Ask: What did Charley see that told him he was in an older time? Sample answer — The things and the people around him were from the past.

   • Things: brass spittoons on the floor, and a very small Currier & Ives locomotive on the tracks.
   • A man: a gold watch, a derby hat, a black four-button suit and a big, black, handlebar mustache.
   • Everyone: “everyone in the station was dressed like eighteen-ninety-something”.

   Charley says “And then I knew”, and then goes to make sure.

5. 30–35 min · The newspaper and the then and now chart. One student reads the paragraph on page 4 that begins “To make sure, I walked over to a newsboy and glanced at the stack of papers at his feet.” Ask: How did Charley make sure of the year? Sample answer — He looked at the newspapers. It was The World, which “hasn’t been published for years”, and its lead story “said something about President Cleveland”. Later he found that front page in the Public Library files: “it was printed June 11, 1894”.

   Then start the then and now chart on the chart paper; today’s two rows are given below, after Board work.

6. 35–40 min · Exit slip. (1) Why were the lights on the third level dim and flickering? (2) When was the newspaper that Charley saw on the third level printed?

From the second level to the third level (steps 3 and 4)

Board work

By the end of the period the board should carry this table, and students copy it into their notebooks.

Today’s rows for the then and now chart:

Where students get stuck

• Time moves back and forth. The word “since” in “I’ve found that front page since, in the Public Library files, and it was printed June 11, 1894.” (p. 4) points to a later time: Charley looked at the date in the library afterwards, not that night. Students often write that he read the date on the newspaper.
• The World is the name of a newspaper. Students translate it as ‘the world’. The book prints it in italics; write it on the board and underline it.
• Names of the things of 1894. The meanings of spittoons, eyeshade, derby hat and leg-of-mutton sleeves are in Part 3, ‘The world of 1894’, of the glossary. They need not be learnt by heart; students only need to see that Charley found “eighteen-ninety-something” dress all around him.
• For a weaker student, the first four rows of the board work are enough.
• Ask a stronger student: Charley says he was not trying to escape. Do pages 2 and 3 fully agree with him? This question is our own. Sample answer — Not fully. He says, “I wasn’t trying to escape from anything”, but soon after he thinks that “Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape” for many people, and he keeps this idea from his psychiatrist friend. So escape is on his mind, even if he did not plan it that night.

Exit slip and homework

• Exit slip (step 6): (1) Why were the lights on the third level dim and flickering? (2) When was the newspaper that Charley saw on the third level printed?
• Sample answers to the exit slip — (1) They were open-flame gaslights. (2) June 11, 1894; Charley later found that front page in the Public Library files.
• Homework: A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, B1, B2, B3, C3, C4 and D1 from the question bank; and, for those who are ahead, D2 and D3 too. In the answer to Read and find out question 1, add the second point (1894).
• For revision: flashcards 11–31.

Book — pp. 4–5 · Slides — Part 3 · Interactive — The Galesburg tickets

Aim — By the end of the period every student can say why Charley wanted two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois, why the clerk did not accept his bills, what Charley did the next day, and what happened to the corridor.

Take with you — the book and the then and now chart.

The 40 minutes

1. 0–4 min · The previous slips. In the Period 2 slips, check whether anyone wrote that the date on the newspaper was read ‘that night’; read out one correct slip and one with a slip-up, and have the class correct it.

2. 4–12 min · You read: the ticket windows and Galesburg. Page 4, from “I turned toward the ticket windows” to “I wanted two tickets for that.” First pause, after “And I wanted two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois.” Ask: What did Charley realise at the ticket windows? Sample answer — That there he “could buy tickets that would take Louisa and me anywhere in the United States we wanted to go. In the year 1894.” Second pause, at the end of the paragraph. Tell the students that in “Have you ever been there?” Charley is speaking directly to the reader. Then ask: Why did Charley want to go to Galesburg in 1894? Sample answer — For Charley, Galesburg in 1894 was a calm and happy place.

   • The town: big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead.
   • The evenings: summer evenings were “twice as long”, people sat out on their lawns, with the fire-flies all around, “in a peaceful world”.
   • The wars: the First World War was “still twenty years off”, and World War II “over forty years in the future”.

   So he wanted to be back in that peaceful time: “I wanted two tickets for that.”

3. 12–20 min · Students read: the clerk. One student reads the last paragraph on page 4, from “The clerk figured the fare” to “There’s nothing nice about jail, even in 1894.” Explain “ain’t” and “skin me” first: ain’t is the spoken form of isn’t, and skin me means to cheat me. Pause, at the end of the paragraph. Ask: Why did the clerk refuse Charley’s money? Sample answer — The clerk thought Charley was trying to cheat him.

   • What he said: “That ain’t money, mister,” and “if you’re trying to skin me, you won’t get very far”.
   • Why: The money of 1894 was “old-style bills, half again as big as the money we use nowadays, and different-looking”, so Charley’s bills looked strange to him.
   • What Charley did: He turned away and got out fast, because “There’s nothing nice about jail, even in 1894.”

   So Charley could not buy the tickets.

4. 20–30 min · You read: the next day. Page 5, from “And that was that. I left the same way I came, I suppose.” to “I went back to my stamps.” Stopping at “I suppose”, point out that Charley himself is not sure which way he went back. First pause, after “eggs were thirteen cents a dozen in 1894.” Ask: What did Charley do the next day? Sample answer — He got old money ready for the tickets.

   • The bank: During lunch hour he drew three hundred dollars, “nearly all we had”.
   • Old money: He bought old-style currency; at a coin dealer’s you have to pay a premium.
   • The loss: “My three hundred dollars bought less than two hundred in old-style bills, but I didn’t care; eggs were thirteen cents a dozen in 1894.”

   His psychiatrist friend was “really worried” by this. Second pause, after “I went back to my stamps.” Ask: Did Charley find the third level again? How did Louisa feel? Sample answer — No. He has “never again found the corridor”, “although I’ve tried often enough”. Louisa “was pretty worried” and did not want him to look any more, so after a while he stopped and went back to his stamps.

5. 30–36 min · The then and now chart. Students speak, you write on the chart; today’s three rows are given below, after Board work.

6. 36–40 min · Exit slip. (1) What did the clerk say when he saw Charley’s money? (2) How much old-style money did Charley’s three hundred dollars buy?

Board work

By the end of the period the board should carry this table, and students copy it into their notebooks.

Today’s rows for the then and now chart:

Where students get stuck

• Charley did not buy the tickets. Students often write that Charley brought back the Galesburg tickets. The clerk did not take the bills, and Charley walked out.
• “half again as big”. It means one and a half times as big, not double.
• $300 and less than $200. Charley gave three hundred dollars and got old money worth less than two hundred, because old money has to be bought at a premium. The $800 is Sam’s, and comes in Period 4.
• Keep “I suppose”. Charley is not sure that he came back the same way; in an answer write something like Charley says he left the same way he came, he supposes, not as a settled fact.
• For a weaker student, the first five rows of the board work are enough.
• Ask a stronger student: Charley spends nearly all his money on old bills. What does this show about him? This question is our own. Sample answer — It shows how badly he wants to go back to 1894. He draws “nearly all we had”, even though his psychiatrist friend is “really worried” and Louisa is “pretty worried”.

Exit slip and homework

• Exit slip (step 6): (1) What did the clerk say when he saw Charley’s money? (2) How much old-style money did Charley’s three hundred dollars buy?
• Sample answers to the exit slip — (1) “That ain’t money, mister”; he also warned, “if you’re trying to skin me, you won’t get very far”. (2) Less than two hundred dollars in old-style bills.
• Homework: A11, A12, A13, A14, B4, B5, B6, C5, C7 and D4 from the question bank; and, for those who are ahead, D5 too.
• For revision: flashcards 32–47.

Book — pp. 5–6 · Slides — Part 4 · Interactive — Sam and the first-day cover

Aim — By the end of the period every student can say what a first-day cover is, how Sam’s letter reached Charley, what the letter says and what the last line tells us; and can write the second Read and find out question (p. 5) in English.

Take with you — the book, the old envelope with a postmark (if you have one), and a sheet of chart paper for the clue chart.

The 40 minutes

1. 0–4 min · The previous slips. Read two slips from Period 3; check whether anyone wrote Charley bought the tickets or $800.

2. 4–11 min · You read: Sam disappears. Page 5, from “But now we’re both looking, every weekend, because now we have proof that the third level is still there.” to “And that’s where he is, all right. In 1894.” Tell the students that Charley first gives the result, “proof”, and tells the story of the proof afterwards. Pause, at the end of the paragraph. Ask: Why does Charley think Sam Weiner is in Galesburg? Sample answer — Because Sam disappeared, and Galesburg was the place Sam liked to hear about.

   • Sam is gone: “My friend Sam Weiner disappeared!” Nobody knew where.
   • Galesburg: “Sam’s a city boy”, and Charley used to tell him about Galesburg, where Charley went to school. Sam always said he liked the sound of the place.

   Charley says, “And that’s where he is, all right. In 1894.”

3. 11–19 min · Students read: the first-day cover. Two students read the next two paragraphs, from “Because one night, fussing with my stamp collection, I found” to “till I took it out and opened it”. If you have the envelope, show its postmark. First pause, after “They’re never opened; you just put blank paper in the envelope.” Ask: What is a first-day cover? Sample answer — An envelope that stamp collectors mail to themselves on the first day a new stamp is sold; “the postmark proves the date”. It is never opened; there is only blank paper inside. Second pause, at the end of the paragraph. Ask: How did this first-day cover come to be in Charley’s collection? Sample answer — It came through his grandfather.

   • The address: Someone had mailed it to Charley’s grandfather at his home in Galesburg.
   • The date: The postmark showed July 18, 1894.
   • The stamp: a six-cent, dull brown stamp with a picture of President Garfield.
   • The collection: When it came to Granddad, it went into his collection and stayed there till Charley opened it.

   Yet Charley says, “I didn’t remember it at all”.

4. 19–26 min · Read and find out (p. 5). Read the question just as it is printed: “Would Charley ever go back to the ticket-counter on the third level to buy tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife?” Pairs think for two minutes, then have the answer built on the board. Sample answer — Charley wants to go back, but he has never found the corridor again.

   • He prepares: The next day he draws three hundred dollars and buys old-style currency.
   • He fails: He never finds the corridor again, though he has “tried often enough”.
   • He keeps hoping: After Sam’s letter, he and Louisa look for it every weekend.

   So he would go back if he found the third level again; the story leaves this open.

5. 26–35 min · You read: the letter and the last line. Read the whole of page 6, from “The paper inside wasn’t blank.” to “His old business? Why, Sam was my psychiatrist.” Read the letter slowly; remind the students that the paper inside a first-day cover is always blank. First pause, after the letter. Ask: What does Sam tell Charley in his letter? Sample answer — Sam has found the third level and is happy in Galesburg in 1894.

   • Where and when: 941 Willard Street, Galesburg, Illinois, July 18, 1894; “I’ve been here two weeks”.
   • His life there: Someone is playing a piano at the Daly’s, people are singing on the front porch, and he is invited over for lemonade.
   • His request: “Come on back, Charley and Louisa. Keep looking till you find the third level! It’s worth it, believe me!”

   The letter is signed Sam. Second pause, after the last line. Ask: Who was Sam Weiner? Sample answer — Charley’s friend, who was also his psychiatrist: “Why, Sam was my psychiatrist.” On page 1, Charley’s psychiatrist friend called the third level “a waking-dream wish fulfillment”; now Sam writes that he is there himself.

   At the end, start the clue chart with the first and third rows of the Period 5 table.

6. 35–40 min · Exit slip. (1) What date did the postmark on the first-day cover show? (2) What does the last line of the story tell us about Sam Weiner?

Sam’s letter, from 1894 to Charley (step 3)

Board work

By the end of the period the board should carry this table, and students copy it into their notebooks.

Where students get stuck

• Two dates. June 11, 1894 is the date of the newspaper The World (p. 4); July 18, 1894 is the postmark of the first-day cover and the date of Sam’s letter. Write both on the board together.
• The envelope did not come to Charley’s house by post. It had been sent to Charley’s grandfather’s address in Galesburg, and Charley found it among his oldest first-day covers.
• Sam and the psychiatrist are one man. The last line says so; students often write them as two different people.
• “he certainly can’t go back to his old business”. Sam’s old work was that of a psychiatrist; in the Galesburg of 1894, by Charley’s reckoning, he can run the hay, feed and grain business he always wanted to run.
• For a weaker student, the first four rows of the board work and the last row are enough.
• Ask a stronger student: Why does Charley explain what a first-day cover is before he tells us about Sam’s letter? This question is our own. Sample answer — So that we already know that “the postmark proves the date”. Then the postmark, July 18, 1894, ties Sam’s letter to 1894, and the letter becomes proof.

Exit slip and homework

• Exit slip (step 6): (1) What date did the postmark on the first-day cover show? (2) What does the last line of the story tell us about Sam Weiner?

• Sample answers to the exit slip — (1) July 18, 1894. (2) That Sam Weiner, Charley’s friend who writes from Galesburg in 1894, was Charley’s psychiatrist.

• Homework: A10, A15, A16, A17, A18, A19, B7, B8, C6, C8, D6, D7 and D8 from the question bank; and, for those who are ahead, E4 too. Also Reading with Insight question 2 (p. 6): “What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?”

• Sample answer to Q 2 — Sam writes that he has found the third level and is now in Galesburg in 1894.

  • His news: He has been there two weeks, and he asks Charley and Louisa to keep looking: “It’s worth it, believe me!”
  • The proof: The letter came in a first-day cover, and “the postmark proves the date”: July 18, 1894.
  • The twist: The last line tells us who Sam was: “Why, Sam was my psychiatrist.”

  The full answer is in the last section of the revision notes.

• For revision: flashcards 48–65.

Book — pp. 6–7, and pp. 1–6 of the story · Slides — Part 5 · Interactive — Reading with Insight

Aim — By the end of the period every student can name at least three themes of the story with a line from the book for each, recognise two things about how the story is told, and write the new answer to the first-day slip with one line for each side.

Take with you — the first-day slips in the envelope, the clue chart and the then and now chart.

The 40 minutes

1. 0–4 min · The previous slips. Read two slips from Period 4; check whether July 18, 1894 and June 11, 1894 have got mixed up.

2. 4–12 min · The first-day slips and the clue chart. Hand the slips back. Then complete the clue chart (the table below): read each row and ask the students which side the line goes to. Now every student writes a new answer under their own two lines, with one line for each side. Sample answer — The story does not decide; it gives lines for both readings.

   • It may be real: Charley says, “now we have proof that the third level is still there”. Sam disappears, and his letter, in a first-day cover postmarked July 18, 1894, says, “I found the third level!”
   • It may be only in his mind: The psychiatrist friend calls it “a waking-dream wish fulfillment”, and Charley has “never again found the corridor”, “although I’ve tried often enough”.

   A good answer gives a line for each side and then says which reading the student finds stronger, and why.

3. 12–21 min · Five themes, a line for each. First write the names of all five themes on the board (the first column of the board work). Give each pair one theme; the pair looks for its line in pages 1 to 6. Then match them against the board-work table. After that ask Reading with Insight question 1 aloud, as printed: “Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?” Sample answer — Yes, the third level was Charley’s medium of escape from the worries of modern life.

   • The psychiatrist’s view: He calls it “a waking-dream wish fulfillment” and says Charley wants to escape a world “full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it”.
   • What Charley finds there: It is 1894, and Galesburg in 1894 is “a peaceful world”, with the First World War still twenty years off.
   • What Charley does: He tries to buy two tickets to Galesburg, and later draws three hundred dollars, nearly all he and Louisa have, for old-style currency.

   Charley says he was not trying to escape that night, but his longing to go back shows that the third level is his way out of the present.

4. 21–29 min · How the story is told. Write four things on the board, then have the students find a line for each in the story: first-person narrator, an open question, the first-day cover as proof, a twist ending. Then ask: Why does Charley keep asking the reader questions, like “Well, do you know what a first-day cover is?” Sample answer — He talks to the reader as he would to a friend, so even a strange story starts to sound believable.

   Then Reading with Insight question 4: “Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?” Sample answer — Yes; in the story time and space meet and cross each other.

   • One place, two times: Grand Central Station is an ordinary station in Charley’s own time, but on its third level it is 1894.
   • Travel in both: From the ticket window there, Charley could buy tickets to any place in the United States, but in the year 1894.
   • A letter across time: Sam’s letter, dated July 18, 1894, reaches Charley in his own time, in the collection his grandfather started.

   Thus the story joins the present and the past in one place.

5. 29–36 min · Questions 3, 5 and 6: beyond the story. These three questions go out to life beyond the story. For each, have the students say two points and write them on the board. When reading question 3, remind the students that its sentence is not a line from the story; in the story, the psychiatrist friend’s words are “the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it”. Sample answer to Q 3 — People find many ways to overcome worry and stress.

   • Ways: hobbies, music, games and exercise, family and friends, travel, and dreams of a peaceful past.
   • In the story: Charley’s stamp collecting is called a “temporary refuge from reality”.
   • A balance: Escape gives only short relief; the lasting way is to face our problems and keep a balance between work and rest.

   Sample answer to Q 5 — Yes. Things once called impossible, like flying in the air, are part of daily life today. In the story the third level seems illogical, but Sam’s letter, postmarked July 18, 1894, gives it a proof that is hard to explain away. So we should not reject an idea only because it looks illogical today.

   Sample answer to Q 6 — Many things besides stamps keep the past alive.

   • Other ways: old letters, diaries, photographs, coins, museums, old buildings, folk songs and family stories.
   • In the story: a first-day cover from 1894 brings back a date, a stamp and a letter.
   • A balance: We go back to the past for comfort, live in the present and plan for the future; living only in the past can make us neglect the present.

   Question 7 (the comparison with ‘Adventure’) is homework; its sample answer is in the revision notes.

6. 36–40 min · Exit slip. (1) Name one theme of the story and give a line from the book for it. (2) Give one line that supports each reading of the third level.

The clue chart, complete (step 2)

Which line goes in which box is our own sorting; if a student puts a line in the other box, ask for the reason.

Board work

By the end of the period the board should carry this table, and students copy it into their notebooks.

Where students get stuck

• The sentence in question 3 is not a line from the story. ‘The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and stress.’ are the question’s words; if an answer needs to quote the story, write the words from page 1.
• Do not give a verdict. The story does not tell us whether the third level is real or not. A student who writes for either side with a line from the book is right; a firm statement without a line is not.
• Author and narrator. The author is Jack Finney; the story is told by Charley. Stop mistakes such as Jack Finney went to the third level.
• Question 5 as printed. It has “Discuss.” after the ”?”; write it the same way on the board.
• For a weaker student, the first three rows of the themes table and the first row of the clue chart are enough.
• Ask a stronger student: Where in the story is there irony? This question is our own. Sample answer — In the last line. The psychiatrist friend kept calling the third level a wish fulfillment, but “Why, Sam was my psychiatrist.” shows that he went there himself.

Exit slip and homework

• Exit slip (step 6): (1) Name one theme of the story and give a line from the book for it. (2) Give one line that supports each reading of the third level.
• Sample answers to the exit slip —
  • (1) Any one theme with its line, for example escape from the modern world: “Everybody I know wants to escape, but they don’t wander down into any third level at Grand Central Station.”
  • (2) Real: “now we have proof that the third level is still there”. Only in his mind: “a waking-dream wish fulfillment”.
• Homework: E1, E2, E3 and E5 from the question bank; and Reading with Insight question 7, checked against the sample answer in the revision notes.
• For revision: flashcards 66–72.

Book — pp. 1, 5, 6–7 · Slides — Part 6 · Interactive — the questions at the end of each part

Aim — By the end of the period every student can write the answers to at least three of the book’s questions with lines from the story, and knows which point of which period the other questions belong to.

Take with you — the book, the written-assessment questions (copies, or on the board), and the answers in the revision notes.

The 40 minutes

1. 0–4 min · The previous slips. Read two slips from Period 5: one in which the lines for both sides are right, and one in which the sentence of question 3 has come in as a line of the story.
2. 4–8 min · The 9 questions at a glance. Show the board-work table. Students check in their notebooks which question’s answer they have, and mark the ones they have missed.
3. 8–33 min · Written assessment. Have the 20-mark paper under Written assessment below solved in twenty-five minutes. The book stays shut; students write from memory the lines they copied into their notebooks.
4. 33–37 min · Checking in pairs. Students exchange notebooks and check each other’s answer with the list Four things to check while marking.
5. 37–40 min · The last slip. Which one line from the story will you remember, and why? This question is our own.

Board work

Keep this table on the board or on chart paper; the full sample answers are in the last section of the revision notes and in the teacher guide. The Key point column is our own.

Where students get stuck

• “infer” in question 2. It means drawing a conclusion from clues; repeating the letter is not enough, the answer must say at the end what the letter shows.
• In question 7, only as much as was taught. Keep the points about ‘Adventure’ to the sample answer in the revision notes.
• For a weaker student, the objective questions of the paper and both Read and find out questions come first, then the rest.
• Let a stronger student write the full answer to question 4 or 6 at home, and check it against the answer in the revision notes.

Exit slip and homework

• Exit slip (step 5): Which one line from the story will you remember, and why?
• Sample answers to the exit slip — Any line from the story with a reason. For example: “Why, Sam was my psychiatrist.”, because it turns the whole story around; or “now we have proof that the third level is still there”, because it makes the reader think the third level may be real.
• Homework: Solve the quiz, and look at the questions in PARAKH. There is a page for parents for talking about the story at home.
• For revision: the whole set of flashcards.

A suggested structure for your own class test; 20 marks in all, twenty-five minutes. Change the marks and the questions to suit your class.

1. Writing the sentence of question 3 as a line of the story. The story’s words are “the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it” (p. 1).
2. Mixing up the two dates. June 11, 1894 is the newspaper’s; July 18, 1894 is the postmark’s and Sam’s letter’s.
3. A firm statement beyond the story. Statements such as Charley bought the tickets, the third level is real or Sam and the psychiatrist are two men are wrong; an answer about the third level should come with a line from the book, as one of the two readings.
4. Changing a quotation. A quotation should have the book’s spelling: fulfillment, mustache, centre, fire-flies.

All three tasks are our own.

1. Do not reveal the last line early. The fact that Sam was the psychiatrist waits until the last pause of Period 4.
2. Do not give a verdict. The story does not decide that the third level is real; put both readings beside each other, with lines.
3. Do not add anything from outside the book. The author’s biography, outside facts about Grand Central, the full names of the presidents, any film: none of these.
4. Protect Charley’s own words. Have what rests only on his word written with Charley says…, and leave the book’s words like “I suppose” and “maybe” as they are.
5. Quotations word for word, in the book’s spelling: fulfillment, mustache, centre, the Daly’s, fire-flies, Granddad.